Kings Place Joel Armia On IR
March 4: The Kings announced today that Wright has been reassigned to Ontario and Moverare has been reinstated from the non-roster list. Wright posted zeroes across the board in his NHL debut on Monday, skating 9:42 of ice time.
March 2: The Kings announced a series of roster moves today as a response to lingering injury issues, with team reporter Zach Dooley writing that multiple players on the roster are “questionable” for tonight’s game.
The Kings recalled Angus Booth and Jared Wright, placing winger Joel Armia on IR and designating Jacob Moverare as non-roster playing status. Both Wright and Booth have yet to make their NHL debut to this point in their young pro careers.
The biggest name involved in today’s transactions is Armia, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. According to Dooley, he had an MRI today, but the only indication of the extent of his injury has been this transaction. The 32-year-old is a veteran of nearly 650 NHL games, and has been a quality bottom-six defensive forward for many years. He scored 11 goals and 29 points last season with the Montreal Canadiens before signing in Los Angeles as a free agent. His 10 goals and 20 points are right in line with the scoring paces he managed in the most productive years of his career.
Armia’s on-ice value has always been about more than offense – he’s long been a reliable penalty-killer, someone a team can count on to play a significant role in any short-handed operation. This season, he ranks No. 4 among Kings forwards in short-handed time on ice per game (1:35). As a member of the Canadiens, Armia formed a formidable penalty-killing duo with center Jake Evans, ranking No. 2 among team forwards in penalty killing ice time per game in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
As a result of his IR placement today, he’s guaranteed to miss at least the team’s next few games. His full return timeline is currently unclear, throwing into question whether he’ll be able to play against his former team when the Canadiens visit Los Angeles on March 7. Armia’s direct roster replacement is Wright, who also stands 6’3″.
As previously mentioned, Wright hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but the former Denver Pioneer is a leading penalty killer amongst Ontario forwards. Because he is playing a similar role to Armia at the AHL level, it’s possible the Kings opt for Wright to make his NHL debut on this recall, perhaps hoping his addition can provide on-ice stylistic continuity while Armia is sidelined.
On defense, Booth has been recalled to replace Moverare, who has been designated as non-roster status. Moverare has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, and when he does dress for games, has averaged just 8:45 time on ice per game. The 27-year-old Swede is a pending UFA and has gotten into just 15 NHL games this season despite spending its entirety in the NHL.
Booth, 21, is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut. Given Moverare is the team’s seventh defenseman, he may not get his chance at this point. Drew Doughty is out for tonight’s game, but Booth isn’t a player who fits as a Doughty replacement. With that said, it might not take too long for Booth to get his first NHL game. He’s is a top-four defenseman and steady penalty killer for the Reign, and the rate at which he’s earned recalls in recent weeks suggests he’s getting closer to being considered NHL-ready.
With Moverare’s deal expiring this upcoming summer, Booth may be a player to look out for as a candidate to seize an NHL role going forward – a projection that would grow all the more confident if he can get into some NHL games down the stretch.
Kings Reassign Erik Portillo, Angus Booth
March 3: The Kings returned Portillo to AHL Ontario after he backed up Anton Forsberg last night, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor. Defenseman Angus Booth joins him on the road back to the AHL after scoring in his debut last night with a +1 rating in 12:18 of ice time.
March 2: The Los Angeles Kings have recalled goaltender Erik Portillo from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The move comes as the incumbent No. 1 netminder Darcy Kuemper is set to miss at least tonight’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with an illness, per team reporter Zach Dooley.
This isn’t Portillo’s first opportunity to serve as a fill-in for an unavailable Kuemper – over the Olympic break, the Swedish netminder was recalled to practice with the team while Kuemper was in Italy representing Canada at the Olympic tournament. Today’s recall is in a similar vein, although there is an actual game to be played in this case, and Portillo is set to serve as the backup.
A 2019 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Portillo has developed well over the last two-and-a-half years as a member of the Kings organization. Once a high-end goaltender both in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints and NCAA with the Michigan Wolverines, Portillo has become a solid goaltender at the AHL level. He made his professional debut in 2023-24, posting a .918 save percentage across 39 games with the Reign. Portillo earned a greater share of starts than most goalies can typically expect in their first season in the pro ranks, and Portillo appeared to respond well to the increased responsibility and workload.
The following season, Portillo’s numbers took a step back, regressing from a .918 save percentage in 2023-24 to an .889 in 2024-25. It’s possible the trickle-down effect of the Kings’ addition of Kuemper may have played a role. In 2023-24, David Rittich‘s stellar play kept him in the NHL, meaning the Kings didn’t have a veteran to pair with Portillo until they signed Aaron Dell in late January of 2024. That allowed Portillo to play a regular starting netminder’s schedule, something he got used to (albeit with a smaller pool of total available games) when he was at Michigan.
In 2024-25, Kuemper arrived, and emerged as a Vezina Trophy candidate with the Kings. Having Kuemper and Rittich entrenched in the NHL forced Pheonix Copley, who had played in 37 NHL games in 2022-23, and spent most of 2023-24 injured, off the Kings’ NHL roster. As a result, he received the lion’s share of starts in Ontario, and Portillo had to settle for a backup goalie’s schedule of starts, rather than a starter. Many goalies have commented on the difficulty posed by a backup’s schedule, in terms of being less capable of finding a rhythm that paves the way to on-ice success. Being a backup isn’t something Portillo had to deal with in several years, and it’s therefore not a huge surprise that his numbers fell back as he tried to make that adjustment.
So far this season, Portillo appears to have largely rebounded from his difficult 2024-25. He’s come close to splitting starts with Copley, with 20 games played compared to the veteran’s 26. He’s winning frequently, with a 14-3-1 record and .905 save percentage, well above Copley’s .891 mark. With another season on his deal at a $783K cap hit, the time could be quickly approaching where the Kings look to Portillo as a legitimate NHL option, although it’s important to note that both Kuemper and Forsberg remain under contract through next season as well.
Red Wings Place Erik Gustafsson On Waivers
March 3: Gustafsson cleared waivers, per Friedman.
March 2: The Detroit Red Wings placed veteran defenseman Erik Gustafsson on waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move paves the way for the Red Wings to open up a spot on their 23-man roster, as this waiver placement was likely made with the intent of sending the blueliner down to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
The move doesn’t come as a major surprise, as Gustafsson has been a frequent healthy scratch for the Red Wings in his most recent stint on their NHL roster. Since being recalled on Jan. 15, Gustafsson has dressed for just a single game, serving as a healthy scratch for 11 of the team’s 12 contests. 
While he did receive over 20 minutes of ice time in the game he was dressed for – a 5-0 loss to the Avalanche on Jan. 31 – it’s been clear for some time that Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan prefers to staff his defense with other players.
As a result, this has been a difficult season for the 33-year-old. A veteran of over 500 games, Gustafsson was once a 60-point scorer, an emerging offensive force from the back-end as a part of the Chicago Blackhawks in the late 2010s.
He wasn’t able to sustain that level of production for very long, though, and began bouncing around the league, offering his services as a bottom-pairing puck-moving defenseman with power play utility to various teams. He even made a few deep playoff runs in the process, winning a Clarence S. Campbell Bowl with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, and appearing in the Eastern Conference Final in 2024 as a member of the New York Rangers.
Gustafsson made the most of that Rangers tenure in particular, which is what landed him in Detroit in the first place. The Red Wings signed Gustafsson to a two-year, $2MM AAV deal on July 1, 2024 after he managed to provide New York with a significant amount of surplus value on his prior deal, having scored 31 points on just an $825K salary. He wasn’t able to bring that kind of effectiveness to Detroit, scoring just 18 points in 60 games.
So far in 2025-26, he’s fallen further down Detroit’s depth chart. He’s been a staple in the press box when on the NHL roster, and has just two NHL games played this season. He’s been productive in the AHL, scoring 20 points in 22 games, but those are also his first AHL games since the 2017-18 season.
Today’s news comes at a crucial point in Gustafsson’s career. As a pending UFA, he’s undoubtedly hoping to be able to enter the offseason player market on as strong footing as possible. The longer he spends as a healthy scratch and/or AHL player as a member of the Red Wings organization, the lower his chances are of getting a contract anywhere close to the $2MM salary he received in his last run as a UFA.
With the player movement expected to come in the lead up to this week’s trade deadline, it’s possible a spot frees up on another team that would allow Gustafsson to play out the rest of the season at the NHL level. But seeing as his waiver placement is coming before that movement is finalized, it’s fair to question whether teams will be willing to place a claim on Gustafsson, given that other players could be on waivers or otherwise available as the week progresses.
Photos courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
Kraken Not Planning To Trade Tolvanen, Pending UFAs
The Seattle Kraken are “not planning” to trade winger Eeli Tolvanen or their other pending UFA players before the trade deadline unless it is an “overpayment,” according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Per Pagnotta, the Kraken are “focused on making the playoffs and adding.” Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller added to Pagnotta’s report, writing that Tolvanen and his representatives are expecting to begin talks with Seattle on a contract extension this week.
Tolvanen is not the only notable pending UFA player on Seattle’s roster. Included in that group alongside Tolvanen are three notable veterans: winger Jaden Schwartz, defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, and captain Jordan Eberle.
Together with Tolvanen they form a quartet of players who would each likely receive considerable interest on the trade market, but based on Pagnotta’s report, that isn’t a path the Kraken are willing to go down.
Through 59 games this season, Seattle has amassed a 28-22-9 record with a -6 goal differential, good for 65 points and the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot. They are three points ahead of their closest rival, the San Jose Sharks, who have 62 points and a game in hand. They are also just one point behind the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division, and hold two games in hand there. In other words – the Kraken have multiple routes they can take to reach the playoffs.
With that said, their form since returning from the Olympic break has been mixed. They dropped games against the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues by a combined 9-2 score, but managed a win over the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. In order to stand the best chance of not only making it to the playoffs, but also surviving beyond the first round if they do, they may need to reinforce their roster with additional veteran talent.
Pagnotta reports that the Kraken are interested in doing so, which matches up with what has been previously reported. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted on the 32 Thoughts podcast Friday that the Kraken offered north of $14MM AAV to try to sway Artemi Panarin to choose Seattle. He elected to be dealt to the Los Angeles Kings instead. But the Kraken’s pursuit of a difference-making scoring forward has persisted, including to the point where they would be willing to deal 2022 No. 4 pick Shane Wright.
Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that the Kraken “are serious about getting a player that can electrify them offensively,” and pointed to a sense of pressure that exists in Seattle to get the organization back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022-23. He even referenced the NBA’s stated interest in considering expansion cities – of which Seattle would be a strong contender – as a factor contributing to the importance of the Kraken finding a way back to the playoffs this season.
Whether the Kraken are best served retaining four pending UFAs for a stretch run that could end up concluding in a first-round matchup against the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche is a matter of debate. There are business considerations, as Friedman suggested, that the team may be wrestling with, and the reality of the NHL playoffs is that an element of randomness is guaranteed. The Kraken have pulled off an upset before, after all. So it’s not entirely unreasonable for the Kraken to bet on, and invest in, their current team.
But for a team that has largely lacked star power in its brief existence as an NHL franchise, is investing significant hockey assets in this capable, but flawed, 2025-26 Kraken team the most sensible long-term decision? That will be the question the Kraken’s hockey operations leaders will have to interrogate this week, and it will be interesting to see what path president of hockey operations Ron Francis and GM Jason Botterill elect to take.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
San Jose Sharks Open To Trading Kiefer Sherwood
The San Jose Sharks “are now open” to trading winger Kiefer Sherwood before the NHL trade deadline comes on Friday, per The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. The Sharks have been unable to secure Sherwood’s signature on a contract extension to this point, and it appears that, “rather than risking losing him for nothing,” the team is considering flipping Sherwood just six weeks after acquiring him from the Vancouver Canucks.
Sherwood was dealing with an upper-body injury when he was dealt from the Canucks, an injury that kept him sidelined for nearly a month. He got into San Jose’s final game before the Olympic break, and has played in their three games since returning.
While it’s certainly a challenge for some offensive players to change teams and keep up their production, as so much of creating offense in the NHL is based on instincts and chemistry, something that can take time to develop in a new environment, the Sharks have undoubtedly placed Sherwood in a position to succeed. He played their most recent game on the team’s top line, skating alongside Macklin Celebrini, who is one of the game’s foremost young talents, and another emerging star in Will Smith. Despite that favorable deployment, and heavy power play time, Sherwood hasn’t been able to register on the scoresheet as a Shark.
His performance in the admittedly small sample of games in San Jose is notable, but what’s far more notable is the difficulty the team has had signing Sherwood to an extension. A team is unlikely to consider flipping a player just because he’s taking some time to adjust to new surroundings and rediscover his production, but the threat of losing a player as a UFA is a far more pressing concern.
In January, we covered reports coming out of San Jose suggesting there was a “sizable gap” between Sherwood’s demands on his new contract, and what the Sharks were willing to commit to him.
According to The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, “Sherwood’s next contract is expected to carry an AAV of at least $5 million.” AFP Analytics projects Sherwood’s next contract to be worth $5.7MM annually on a five-year term.
It appears that, for as much as the Sharks value Sherwood’s unique value proposition as an NHL player, they may not be willing to invest so heavily in his future.
As recently as 2022-23, Sherwood was widely considered more of an AHL player. He was one of the AHL’s best players in 2021-22, scoring 36 goals and 75 points in 57 games. After signing with the Nashville Predators organization, Sherwood continued his high-scoring ways with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, before earning 32 NHL games with the Predators.
He became a full-time NHL player the following season, and in Nashville, he was able to fully flesh out the on-ice identity that has since made him such a unique player. While he was a top scorer in the AHL, in the NHL, he began to gain more of a reputation as a physical bottom-sixer, someone who could deliver hits, get under the skin of opponents, and generally make his line a difficult one to play against.
After signing with the Canucks, his value took a leap, as he began to translate his AHL production to the NHL. He scored 19 goals and 40 points in 2024-25, and began the year with 17 goals and 23 points before the trade. The Sharks surrendered two second-round picks and AHL defenseman Cole Clayton to acquire Sherwood, and it’s unclear whether they’d be able to receive similar value if they elected to flip him.
There is some recent precedent for a team acquiring, and then flipping, a player. While Mikko Rantanen is certainly in an entirely different tier of on-ice value, limiting the applicability of the comparison, his situation with the Carolina Hurricanes last year is worth mentioning here. Once it became clear to the Hurricanes that Rantanen would not be signing an extension in Raleigh, they flipped him to the Dallas Stars and received emerging young center Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks.
Whether that package is similar in value to what the Hurricanes surrendered to get Rantanen is a matter of debate, but it’s clear that even with diminished leverage, the Hurricanes were still able to get several high-end assets for Rantanen.
If the Sharks elect to flip Sherwood, will their diminished leverage cause them to opt for an offer lesser than what they traded away? That’s the key question, and one that will be interesting to interrogate if Sherwood is traded. If he isn’t dealt, that could be an indication that, given the offers that may have been on the table, San Jose believes keeping Sherwood as a rental player is a more attractive path forward than recouping some future assets.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Injury Notes: Werenski, Konecny, Gibson
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today that star defenseman Zach Werenski has been sidelined for tonight’s game against the New York Rangers due to an illness. The exact nature of his absence, beyond that he is ill, has not yet been disclosed, but based on prior cases of players being sick for games, it is unlikely Werenski will miss too much time. Regardless, the news is still significant, as there are few players who are more valuable to his team on a nightly basis than Werenski. The 28-year-old has scored 65 points in just 54 games this season, and averages 26:26 time-on-ice per game, including 2:49 on the power play and 1:30 on the penalty kill. He ranks No. 2 in the NHL in scoring by a defenseman (behind only Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, who quarterbacks a power play featuring Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl), and No. 2 in the NHL in time-on-ice per game, behind only Olympic teammate Quinn Hughes.
For as long as Werenski’s absence persists, the Blue Jackets will likely increasingly rely on veteran Ivan Provorov, who occupies a role that on other teams would be considered a No. 1 defenseman’s workload. Provorov, who has 20 points in 56 games this season, is averaging 25:11 time-on-ice per game, including playing on the second power play unit, and averaging 3:06 per game on the penalty kill. Despite not even leading his team in the stat, Provorov ranks No. 5 in the NHL in time on ice per game, ahead of several star No. 1 defensemen such as Cale Makar, Jake Sanderson, and Rasmus Dahlin.
Other injury notes from around the NHL:
- The Philadelphia Flyers announced tonight that forward Travis Konecny will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, and will be sidelined on a day-to-day basis. Konecny occupies a first-line role in Philadelphia, playing alongside No. 1 center Christian Dvorak and star winger Trevor Zegras. While he was unable to parlay his spot on Canada’s victorious 4-Nations Face-Off team into a spot in the Winter Olympics, 2025-26 has still been a strong year for Konecny. Through 58 games, he has scored 23 goals and totaled 57 points, which gives him a chance to set a new career-high in scoring. Replacing Konecny on the top line, per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer, is speedy winger Owen Tippett, who has been elevated from the second line.
- Detroit Red Wings starting goalie John Gibson left today’s road win over the Nashville Predators with an upper-body injury, according to a team announcement. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press relayed word from head coach Todd McLellan postgame, who told the media that he believes Gibson is “OK,” but added that he’ll be evaluated when the team returns to Michigan. Gibson has been a good fit in Detroit this season, his play helping lift the team into playoff position in the Eastern Conference. In 39 starts, Gibson has gone 23-12-2 with a .906 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average.
Minnesota Wild Place Marcus Foligno On IR
The Minnesota Wild placed veteran forward Marcus Foligno on injured reserve today, according to an official announcement. Wild head coach John Hynes told the media yesterday, including The Hockey News’ Dylan Loucks, that there was no update on Foligno’s status other than he wouldn’t be able to play on Sunday.
Even with a designation retroactive to the last time he played (Feb. 27 against the Utah Mammoth), Foligno will have to miss at least the team’s next two games, coming tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Friday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Foligno is dealing with a lower-body injury, but the full extent of the injury, or a more detailed recovery timeline, has yet to be provided.
Foligno’s injury costs the Wild a key veteran leader in their forward group. Although his offense isn’t what it once was (he scored 14 goals and 29 points last season, but has just six goals and 11 points this year), he remains a key defensive forward and penalty killer for the team. This year, Foligno has resumed his role on the penalty kill, averaging 1:29 time-on-ice per game while short handed.
While the addition of Fabbri to the roster provides some experienced reinforcement, he’s not an exact, or even approximate, replacement for what Foligno provides. The 34-year-old has appeared on Selke Trophy ballots four times in his career, while Fabbri, on the other hand, has rarely killed penalties in his career.
If Foligno’s injury keeps him sidelined for an extended period, it’s possible the Wild could be motivated to add a veteran defensive winger before the trade deadline, or perhaps a penalty kill specialist. With Foligno out, his minutes on the penalty kill are likely to trickle down to two other veteran contributors: Yakov Trenin and Marcus Johansson.
On The Athletic’s trade board penned by insider Chris Johnston, several depth wingers with varying degrees of defensive ability were listed, including Vancouver Canucks pivot Teddy Blueger (1:49 per game on the penalty kill), Chicago Blackhawks winger Ilya Mikheyev (2:47 per game short-handed), and former Wild deadline addition Gustav Nyquist.
Predators’ Semyon Chistyakov Signs One-Year Extension In KHL
KHL defenseman Semyon Chistyakov, whose NHL rights are held by the Nashville Predators, has signed a one-year contract extension with his current club, Avangard Omsk.
Chistyakov signed a two-year extension in June that runs until the end of the KHL’s 2026-27 season, and now today’s news means he’ll be under contract through 2027-28.
Avangard GM Alexei Sopin called the 24-year-old blueliner “a key figure not only for the club but for the entire city,” and named him as a core part of the team’s roster. Avangard currently sit in second place in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, and the team’s near-term competitiveness likely heightened the level of urgency the club felt in its efforts to sign Chistyakov to an early extension.
The move is relevant from an NHL perspective, as it pushes back the date that the Predators could sign Chistyakov by another year. According to PuckPedia, the club maintains an indefinite exclusive right to sign Chistyakov.
While it’s never a guarantee how a player might translate his game from the KHL to the NHL, Chistyakov offers many valuable on-ice qualities that lend confidence to the idea that he could be a capable NHL defenseman. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked Chistyakov the No. 14 prospect in Nashville’s system back in 2023, calling the player “an excellent skater who is physical and competes at a high level,” while also raising some questions about his size. Chistyakov is a well-regarded prospect dating back to his draft year, when he was ranked the No. 16 international skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Over the last two years, Chistyakov has become one of the KHL’s better defensemen, further lending credibility to the idea of those public-facing scouts that he could be a useful NHL player. Chistyakov, who is listed at 5’11”, 198 pounds, enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 campaign. He led the KHL in goal scoring by a defenseman with 19 tallies, and finished with 40 points in 68 games. He was an all-star that year, and even scored seven points in 13 playoff games.
While Chistyakov’s production is down this season (he has five goals, 21 points in 54 games), as is his ice time (he’s averaging 18:35 per game in 2025-26 compared to over 20 minutes per night last season), he remains a prospect who could provide legitimate value to an organization if he crosses the Atlantic. Despite his offense declining, he remains a contributor on Omsk’s penalty kill, for example.
Unfortunately for Nashville, Chistyakov’s recent extension signing pushes back the date he could join Nashville/Milwaukee by at least another year.
Morning Notes: Vladar, Garland, Klapka
While they have not been able to hold down a playoff spot, the Philadelphia Flyers have been a largely competitive team this season, and a significant reason for that has been the excellent play provided by netminder Daniel Vladar. The team signed Vladar, a longtime backup, this summer to compete with Samuel Ersson for the No. 1 role on the team, and he’s run away with it. In 35 games, Vladar has a .907 save percentage and 2.42 goals-against-average. Vladar has one more year remaining on his deal at a $3.35MM cap hit, and The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz asked Vladar about the prospect of signing an early extension with the team. Vladar made it clear that it was too early for those questions, saying “It’s too far ahead. I’m living my life day by day, week by week.”
Given Vladar’s success this season, it’s likely the Flyers have interest in locking him into an extension before his current deal expires. He won’t turn 29 until August, meaning he isn’t just a short-term stopgap option for Philadelphia. The team has some talented goalie prospects in its system, such as Carson Bjarnason, Yegor Zavragin, and Aleksei Kolosov, but keeping Vladar is the kind of move that can help the development of those players, rather than hinder it, because of how his presence helps keep those young goalies from playing too much, too early in their NHL career. The key factor related to Vladar’s situation is likely to be cost. Kurz pointed to the recent extension signed by Minnesota Wild starter Filip Gustavsson as a comparable deal (five years, $6.8MM AAV), but it should be noted that Gustavsson had more extensive experience as a No. 1 goalie when he signed that deal.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- As the Vancouver Canucks chart their course through an uncertain competitive future, one veteran name drawing interest ahead of the trade deadline is that of winger Conor Garland. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, Senators head coach Travis Green is a “huge backer” of Garland, dating back to his own days as head coach of the Canucks, and as a result “it would be no surprise if the Senators checked in on” Garland. The 29-year-old has seven goals and 26 points in 49 games this season, and would instantly plug in somewhere in Ottawa’s top-nine. The main area of contention regarding a Garland trade is likely to be his contract, as his six-year, $6MM AAV contract kicks in next year. That contract has a full no-move clause attached.
- With the Calgary Flames sitting near the bottom of league standings, the focus for the rest of the season is undoubtedly on maximizing the growth and development of the team’s younger players, something that will be especially true after the trade deadline. One player poised to get an increased opportunity on the ice is 25-year-old winger Adam Klapka, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Klapka is already a success story for the Flames’ player development team, as the massive 6’8″ has blossomed into an NHLer since signing as an undrafted player out of the Czech Extraliga. But the Flames, including head coach Ryan Huska, appear to believe there is room for Klapka to provide even more value on the ice. Under contract for an additional season at a $1.25MM cap hit, Klapka will be one of the players to watch in Calgary moving forward, as he’s poised to gain a greater role once the Flames make their trade deadline moves. Through 57 games this season, he has notched five goals, 12 points, and 215 hits.
Oilers Recall Alec Regula From Conditioning Loan
Feb. 28: Regula’s loan has come to an end as the Oilers announced that he has been recalled. He played in three games with the Condors while on assignment, picking up a goal and two assists along with four shots on goal.
Feb. 18: The Edmonton Oilers announced that defenseman Alec Regula has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, on a conditioning loan.
The move will allow Regula to get into some games over a maximum of a two-week period. The 25-year-old defenseman has been a frequent healthy scratch, and has not played since Jan. 20. Both Regula and the Oilers are likely hoping to get him into some games as he hasn’t played very much stretching back to last season.
Regula arrived in Edmonton off of waivers from the Boston Bruins in Dec. 2024, but missed all of the 2024-25 campaign with a knee injury.
This season, Regula has gotten into 29 games for the Oilers. He’s scored three points and is averaging 14:28 time on ice per game, including 0:49 per game on the penalty kill. He’s under contract for another season at a two-way rate with a $450K AHL salary, so the Oilers will hope he can build some confidence at the AHL level and translate that to his time on the NHL roster once he’s recalled from his conditioning stint.